Characters We Love and Loathe, by Deb Eleanor

One of the highest compliments I get talking to readers of The Weird Sisters is when they say something like, “The characters were so real!” or “Character X is just like me!” (though usually they use the name of the character and don’t call them Character X).

I love that, and I love “the shock of recognition” when I see a character that’s so very real, or so like me – it makes me trust and care about the story that much more. And that goes for fiction and non-fiction.

But what about wonderful characters who don’t seem real, or aren’t like us?

Take Scarlett O’Hara, for example. She is a capital-G, capital-C Great Character. She’s got loads of personality, rules every scene she’s in, and you’ll desperately want to know what happens to her at every page turn.

But she’s not, to be truthful, a very realistic character, and if she is realistic – well….and I say this as a great fan of Gone With the Wind…she’s kind of a horrible person.

And I love her anyway.

Can you think of other characters – real or fictional – in books, movies, or television that you both love and hate at the same time?

Loved Seven – so intense – then again I cheered through Pulp Fiction while 8 months pregnant with Mia (not named for Mia in the movie!) Also adored the Denzel Washington movie with Angelina Jolie and Queen Latifah – The Bone Collector. Not a big fan of Disney movies, the Mom always dies. 😉

The two I was going to say have already been mentioned — Snape and Hannibal Lector. And, of course, I’m totally with you on Scarlett.

Funny thing is, there are real-life people that affect me the same way — they both attract me and repel me. David Bowie, for one. Mick Jagger. Tim Roth (actor on the TV series “Lie To Me”). It’s the oddest sensation whenever I see them. The push and pull, the wobble between like and dislike. Whatever it is about them, it’s strangely compelling.

I always kind of preferred the “bad” characters – there was (and is) nothing I hate more than someone who’s too perfect. This is why I think asking people “Which character from Little Women would you be?” is a great test of character. Anyone who says Beth instead of Jo is just not the kind of person I want to know!